Please Wait

I take a lot of relatively small aircraft - my usual commute to Lugano is on one that seats just over 50 people. As a rule, they let you put larger carry-on stuff outside the plane as you get on.. .then they load it up and unload it for you at the other end.

It's a pretty good deal. You don't have to carry it (or find space) on board, but you also don't have to wait for it at the baggage belt at the other end. But every time we land, they say the same thing, usually in three languages:

"We kindly ask you to wait patiently while your hand-luggage is being unloaded."

Now, I'm glad that they're willing to unload it. Really, I am. And from what I've seen, they do a pretty good job. I haven't heard of them missing any.

But why the announcement? I mean, if the stewardess would just stand there for a minute before opening the door, would people spontaneously rush forward? Would the guys at the front push her into the cockpit so we could figure out how to get that door open and the stairs down, to tear wildly across the tarmac? Or maybe people who had given stuff to the luggage guy at the other end would just not remember, "hey, it felt... heavier, before. Nah, I must have been imagining it..."

I like to talk - any of my friends will tell you. I even like listening. And, with people who are special to me, I can even talk about/listen to a whole lot of more or less nothing, and still be quite happy just to have the time and the contact, especially if snack are involved. But my relationship with the Darwin stewardess is (perhaps regrettably) not exactly in that category.


I wonder if I should say something?